The land of stairs and mustaches

Hi all,

I apologise for my absence but I was very far away from the laptop for the past little bit.

How far away?

Italy, far away.

That's right. I finished exams and living on the edge of Europe has its upside - very cheap last minute flights.

So off I went with my ex-kindergarten boyfriend to the land of treif pizza and pasta.

We were in Milan for the first 4 nights and then Venice for the weekend.

We went hiking on our first day in Cinque Terre. They are 5 adorable old villages along the west coast of Italy. The weather was beautiful; sunshine and a light sea breeze. The hike wound its way past streams, vineyards and the fishing villages filled with mustached old men.

Then we had a day in Milan. We went to the shule that my grandparents married in, then visited the local Jewish area to pick up some kosher grub. After that we visited the local giant palace and its museums, the local arch of peace (that the French totally ripped off with their arch de triumph) and the Duomo cathedral (I recommend u google images of this, it's very impressive). After that we had some quality shopping at 70% off - yay for end-of-season in Europe!

The third day we went to Lake Como and climbed to the top of the mountain there. The hike was beautiful and so was the lake but I didn't pay that much attention b/c I was mainly focussed on panting, sweating and not falling off the mountain. That night was Australia day so we ceremonially got pissed.

On Friday in Venice we went to Murrano and Burrano to see the islands that hand make glass and lace for like 500 years. AMAZING!

Shabbat in Venice was a very interesting experience. We davened with the community in a shule from the middle ages. The Italians have all their own traditions which are neither sephardi nor ashkenazi. The rabbi of the community was absurdly good looking and well dressed. He also speaks 5 languages and enjoys flying around Europe for short trips. Additionally - he's SINGLE!!!! He's a 34 year old divorcee with no kids and looking, so give me a buzz if u reckon you could be the future Rebbetzin of Venice.

At dinner we were put with the young folks who just happened to all be close to the age of 30 on a religious singles ski trip. Each and every one of them was single for their own unique and easily recognizable reason. Some were too aggressive. Some seemed to have no sense of humour. Others had a terrible sense of humour. It was a very sad sight to see.

Dinner and lunch and seuda shlishit were all with Chabad. Obviously I, like most MO Jews, have a complex relationship with Chabad. On the one hand I want their food, on the other hand they may be idolaters. You see, these ones genuinely believed that the Rebbe was moshiach. It said so on their yamulkes and in the prayers they added to benching and other services as well as implied from the parochet of the aron ha'kodesh. On it was embroidered a picture of 770. Creepy much?

Apart from that we missed our train on Sunday, so had a mad rush to the airport in Milan. It then started snowing - which was beautiful particularly when you're warm inside.

Then we hopped on a plane back home.

The next night we regrouped for Italian food in the holy land and a viewing of The Italian Job to recall good times that had very recently occurred.

The end.